Friendship Commanders have today released their new album titled ‘Bill (The Steve Albini Mixes)’. Released on what would have been Steve Albini‘s 62nd birthday, the album is a sweet combination of tribute and homage to a producer/sound engineer/musician that helped shape a generation of music with his ears, mind, and heart.
A lucid combination of brilliance, depth, charisma, and, at times, audio audacity, ‘Bill’ is an album that combines the originality of what is Friendship Commanders and melds it with the genius that is Albini. Done old school in analog, the feeling is timeless and the each track has that signature sound that defines the mood and caresses each and every hook.
While this marks an end of an era, it can also signal what the possibilities of the future hold for those who embrace the inspiration.
About Friendship Commanders & ‘Bill (The Steve Albini Mixes)’
In late 2017, Friendship Commanders set up shop at Electrical Audio in Chicago to make their second album, BILL, with Steve Albini. The result of their week-long collaboration was a thirteen-track body of work about change, grief, and the ever-elusive idea of community. Tracked entirely to tape, BILL bridges the stylistic gap between the band’s punk/hardcore beginnings and the sludge/grunge metal sound of their later releases, 2020’s HOLD ON TO YOURSELF EP and 2023’s MASS album. The version of BILL that was released on October 5th, 2018, was mixed by FC drummer, Jerry Roe. But the original mixes were done by Steve Albini himself. Like the recordings, those mixes are analog, performed live in the studio.
About the mixes Buick Audra says:
“We always planned on releasing the Albini mixes. Always. But we kept writing and releasing new work and the right moment never seemed to present itself. We didn’t imagine that Steve would ever pass. It was a joy to make this record with him, and his mixes are reflective of the loud, lovely time we all had together. They’re guitar-forward, angular, and dynamic. And now I guess it’s time to share them. We’ll miss Steve for the rest of our lives but feel immense gratitude that we had this experience together—and that we have this work to show for it. The album was written about complicated grief, but losing Steve has given way to clean, uncomplicated grief. So, this release feels different this time around. More loving. More pure. I’m so happy to be able to share about what it was like to work with Steve, especially as a woman in music. He cultivated a welcoming, balanced studio culture that I very much needed at that point in my career, in my story. He was the first tracking engineer to encounter us as a band and treat me like I mattered, like I was the songwriter. It changed my life.”
The band chose to release one track as a single, “Outlive You – Steve Albini Mix.” The reason for that is simple: it was Albini’s favorite. Buick Audra says:
“Steve told me that he related to the message of this song—a moving moment for me as a songwriter and lifelong fan of his music. I think you can hear that he favored this one by the way he mixed it. The amp sound at the beginning of the track makes my eyes water now. I love that he chose to leave it in there. And we didn’t release this as a single the first time around; it deserves its moment.”
“OUTLIVE YOU – Steve Albini Mix” is a song about fearing the death of someone you love. The sentiment of “I don’t wanna outlive you” is one known by many, regardless of the specifics. It was written about a friend whose addictions had become visible from a distance, and which Buick Audra saw as potentially fatal. On an album about navigating the myriad difficulties attached to loving other people, it serves as an earnest plea to stay alive. The song bears new, sobering weight today, and yet the recording remains vital and propulsive.
As an album, BILL – The Steve Albini Mixes journeys through stages of mourning on songs like “Horrify,” “What You Ravage,” “Charade,” and “Eulogy Envy”; discovers resilience and defiance on songs like “Saw and Heard,” “Of the We,” “Resolution of the Wants,” and “In the Afterthoughts”; and calls for solidarity in songs like “Women to the Front” and “Desperately Seeking.” The album opens with “Your Fear Is Showing,” a song punching back at the fear that tries to trick one into smallness and self-defeat. Written in the wake of several life transitions and friendship failures, the collection lays bare what it is to be a human navigating loss while trying not to lose oneself altogether.
The only of the band’s albums so far to have had its basic tracks performed live to tape, Steve Albini’s contributions to BILL were many. As the aural documentarian that he was, he captured FC’s sonic leanings at the time as well as the moods of the music. To the surprise of the band members, he acted as co-producer of the album, getting particularly involved in vocals and guitar overdubs.
FC happily welcomed his suggestions. Of working with Steve, Jerry Roe says:
“I don’t know if I’ve felt or experienced a more welcoming collaborative environment than working with Steve at Electrical. He kept it fun, he kept it warm and light, he kept it moving, and he helped me to recalibrate what I should prioritize and value about the process of making music. I feel like anyone who’s making good work should get the chance to experience that on a human and creative level, and I can’t believe that it’s over. Listening to these mixes, I hear that he saw us and interpreted the music for exactly what it was, and I think these mixes are probably the definitive way to experience this body of work. So glad to have known him and worked with him.”
In one of his last emails to Buick and Jerry, Steve wrote, “Stay safe, hang on, don’t quit.” They offer his mixes of their album in the spirit of his kind, fortifying words. They are grateful to have been part of his legacy of music, and to have had him be part of theirs. They can think of no better way to honor their late collaborator and friend than with loud music. Long live.
Featured image by Anna Haas.